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Since Franklin and Rooney are pretty darn near the same dog (Rooney's much cuter though), some of the things we learned with Rooney may apply with Franklin also!
Crate:
I'm writing this as Franklin is sleeping in his crate... you should have no problems getting him used to it based on how easy it was to get him to nap inside it.
The crate should ultimately be his comfort and security blanket rather than a punishment. If he ever needs to be quarantined or segregated, he'll feel relaxed rather than trapped and anxious in his crate.
Put it in a place where he can still feel like he's part of the pack, but safe and secure at the same time. At bedtime, I put a blanket over half of the crate so part of it is dark and encourages him to nap. There's also a divider hanging on the side so you can make the crate smaller for him.
Food:
When you decide to switch him from his NutroMax Puppy food to whatever normal food, slowly introduce the new food so he doesn't get explosive diarrhea. Start with 75% puppy food to 25% regular food for a few days then taper off the puppy food.
If he ever does get diarrhea, pumpkin puree + plain white rice is the best remedy or plain white rice + boiled chicken breast. It has to be plain pumpkin and not pumpkin pie mix. The cans look the same, but are definitely not. Limit table scraps as much as possible. Limit treats to prevent diarrhea.
Marilyn free feeds their dogs and just leaves a big bowl of food out all day. We feed Rooney and Mia once in the evening. We stopped free feeding in the morning because the birds would get to the food before the dogs were hungry for it.
**Supervise him while he eats and periodically take his bowl away when he's in the middle of eating. He should be totally fine with this and if he shows any sort of aggression or possessiveness towards his food, lay him down on his back until he calms down. Same thing with his toys, bones, treats, etc. Otherwise, he'll become possessive and snap at people.
Also, raise his bowl as he gets bigger, it is bad for him to bend over so far. It is easier for them to digest without any issues.
Potty Time:
He went potty about every hour or so during the day. When you see him sniffing the ground while walking around.... he's probably going to pee. When he's in the grass and you catch him going potty, just make sure to reinforce it with praise--- "Go potty. Good boy. Go potty. Good boy...." Then lots of rubs and praise to make sure he knows where he should be doing it. If you think he needs to go pee, but isn't... just ask Eddie how to make that happen. He's got magic hands or something like that.
He has this cute little poop walk that he does while sniffing & walking around, too. Same thing... catch him doing it outside and praise him simultaneously.
If you happen to catch him going inside, just clean it up and don't make a big deal about it. He'll respond better to the praise he gets when he does it outside. Dogs don't poop where they sleep, so he might try to do it in rooms where he doesn't hang out very often.
Handling:
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| (not a dog) Picture is for scruff placement. |
Lightly grab the back/scruff of his neck like his mother would have done to carry him around and he'll feel more and more comfortable, calm and generally less anxious. Also, petting his cheek/mouth area would be similar to the feeling he had when he was nursing and would be calming/soothing for him as well.
Grooming:
His fur will get curlier like Rooney's as he gets older. Brush out his fur a couple of times a week while he has his puppy coat to make sure he doesn't get matted once his curly hair starts to grow in.
Get a pair of thinning shears to thin out his coat once the curls come in. Thinning shears would also be really good for Lincoln's hair. I've been clipping out mats and thinning out both dogs' hair the past week and it will definitely cut down the need for groomer trips.
He has hair in his ears all the way down to his eardrums and it traps dirt and bacteria. For his first ear cleaning I was pulling out puppy shit which he probably rolled in at some point. Rooney and Mia's ears get infected really easily, so it is super important (probably the most important) to keep Franklin's ears clean. If you notice that his eye boogers are goofy and yellow, then he proabably had an ear infection. It's all connected.
Get a few bottles of ear cleaning solution like this.
Fill the ear with solution and massage the base of the ear to loosen any dirt or gunk.
Use a moistened cotton ball to wipe out the insides of his ears. Roll the cotton ball between your hands to make it skinny enough to fit all the way down in there. I have also used baby safety cotton swabs, but never regular cotton swabs as they're too hard for the sensitive inner ears.
Keep on wiping out his ears until the cotton balls come up clean. Please trust me when I say this is the most important routine thing you'll need to do for his health.
Next level ear care would be to pluck out some of the hair in his ears periodically so that dirt is less likely to get trapped. We use a hemostat like this one. It will irritate him a lot less in the future if you start this little by little while he's a puppy.
Chewing:
Rooney is an aggressive chewer and Franklin seemed to be exerting similar tendencies, so I recommend harder materials for him to chew. Stay away from rawhide... It will give him diarrhea and won't keep him busy for long.
Things that work for Rooney and Mia that actually last are:
Everything else we tried lasted 30 minutes or less. What a waste of money! Never play tug of war as it creates a dominate trait and he will always test to see who is alpha male.
Training:
Put a leash or rope on him and let him walk around the house with it. Start using commands with hand gestures. “Sit” (Open fist) “Stay” (Closed fist) “Laydown” (Tapping ground).
Put a leash or rope on him and let him walk around the house with it. Start using commands with hand gestures. “Sit” (Open fist) “Stay” (Closed fist) “Laydown” (Tapping ground).
